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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Crime & Police : Peace : Protest Activity |
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Oakland Prohibits "Less Than Lethal" Weapons for Crowd Control |
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by Jennifer Hansen & ACLU Northern California repost from Indybay IMC
(No verified email address) |
14 Nov 2004
Modified: 02:38:14 PM |
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While it may not serve to eliminate all the brutal and abusive practices that this and other IMCs have documented being used by police to repress demonstrations in recent years, this agreement serves as a good model for similar agreements in other jurisdictions, a list of abusive police practices to be organized against, and an important precedent. |
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AP photo by Paul Sakuma
On November 5, 2004, the Oakland Police Department agreed to enact a crowd control policy, which will establish, for the first time, a uniform protocol for the OPD to use in handling crowds. The policy will apply equally to protests or spontaneous celebrations.
The wording of the policy favors and protects crowd members and their right to assemble. As Michael Hadaad, a civil rights lawyer who helped implement the guidelines stated, it is most important because prior to this, the OPD "had no policy. Their policy was anything goes."
The new policy was created by the ACLU, the National Lawyer's Guild, civil rights lawyers, city officials, and Oakland Police Chief Richard Word.
Efforts to implement this policy was inspired by the incident on April 7, 2003, where police indiscriminately fired wooden bullets, sting ball grenades and shot-filled bean bags at hundreds of non-violent anti war activists during an organized demonstration at The Port of Oakland. The protesters were expressing their opposition to Iraq war profiteering by Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) and American President's Line (APL). Protesters were not given adequate warning to disperse before being fired at.
The OPD's use of overwhelming force resulted in at least 58 people being injured by various projectiles. Among the victims were several legal observers and nine dock workers who had shown up for work. Many serious injuries occurred as a result, some of which required hospitalization.
Willow Rosenthal of Oakland was hit in the back of her calf with a wooden bullet. She required several surgeries, including skin grafts due to internal bleeding. At a press conference on Tuesday announcing the new crowd control policy, Rosenthal said that she is still not able to attend protests because she does not trust what the cops may do. "They can never take away what they did to me and what they did to us." Rosenthal stated.
The new Crowd Management Policy includes the following guidelines…
o Strict limits on the use of force and mandates protecting the right to assemble and demonstrate must be a primary goal of the OPD in their planning for and management of demonstrations;
o Crowd dispersal methods that create risk of injury to crowd members and bystanders are prohibited, including skip fired wooden bullets, stinger grenades, tasers, stun guns, motorcycle bumps, and dogs;
o Indiscriminate use of bean bags, aerosol pepper spray and batons against crowds or passive resisters is prohibited;
o When crowd members break the law, OPD will attempt to negotiate with leaders, and will give clear and audible orders to the crowd, allowing time for individuals to comply before taking enforcement action;
o OPD will arrest individuals who refuse to follow valid police orders, rather than using weapons or other force to move them.
Scott Bohning of Oakland was at the docks on April 7. He was hit five times by projectiles, including one shot, which hit him in his nose. In response to the new crowd control policy, Bohning said, "I think I will feel safer going to demonstrations." He added, "I hope that this policy can set examples for other cities."
Bohning also has his reservations about the guidelines. The policy states that verbal commands by officers must be used on passively-resisting protestors before force can be used, but only with, the approval of a supervisor. The methods may include, lifting and carrying, using dollies or stretchers and/or control holds, which should be used only after other methods of arrest have failed or are not feasible under the circumstances. "I don't think there is sufficient protection for people doing civil disobedience, as the commanding officer could simply decide that 'circumstances' require the use of pain holds. And since their use is sanctioned, and can't be monitored for every individual, it is still likely that pain holds will be abused." Bohning said.
There is also concern as to whether the OPD will adhere to the new policies. Word, the acting police chief, leaves the force later in the month and a new chief is yet to be named. Activists, as well as lawyers who worked on the policy hope that Word's replacement will honor the spirit of the policy.
Hadadd said the Federal Court will oversee the implementation of the policy guidelines for several years to ensure that they are followed. "We intend to hold them to it." Hadadd stated.
For more information, you can visit http://aclunc.org/pressrel/041109-opd.html
ACLU Press Release
IN LANDMARK AGREEMENT, OAKLAND PROHIBITS LESS LETHAL WEAPONS FOR CROWD CONTROL
Oakland Anti-War Demonstrators Lawsuit Results in the First New and Comprehensive Police Policy in the Country
Click here for a copy of the new policy:
http://aclunc.org/police/041109-opd_policy.pdf
CONTACT: Stella Richardson 415-621-2493/cell 415-845-3042
OAKLAND - The Oakland Police Department (OPD) has agreed to implement sweeping reforms to end the use of less lethal weapons against demonstrators, a practice that led to dozens of injuries last year at an anti-war protest at the Port of Oakland. The ACLU-NC, the National Lawyers Guild, and a team of prominent civil rights attorneys announced the unprecedented agreement today. The new OPD crowd control policy prohibits the indiscriminate use of wooden bullets, rubber bullets, tasers, bean bags, pepper spray and police motorcycles to control or disperse crowds or demonstrations.
“The new crowd control policy prohibits the use of all the less lethal but obviously dangerous weapons that were used on April 7, 2003 against nonviolent anti-war protestors,” said Alan Schlosser, Legal Director of the ACLU of Northern California. “Oakland was neither the first nor, unfortunately, the last city in this country to use these weapons for crowd control. However, by this agreement, Oakland becomes the first city in the nation where demonstrators will not have to incur the risk of serious injury from these weapons as the price of exercising their First Amendment rights to protest and assemble.”
The settlement is the result of a class action lawsuit, Local 10, ILWU vs. City of Oakland, in which 52 people claim that their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, assembly and association were violated when Oakland police opened fire on a peaceful anti-war protest on April 7, 2003.
At least 58 people, including 9 dockworkers from Local 10, ILWU, were injured with large wooden bullets, sting ball grenades and shot-filled bean bags in the most violent police response in the nation to protests against the war in Iraq. Today’s settlement does not resolve claims for monetary damages by those who were injured as a result of the police action. Federal District Court Judge Thelton Henderson has scheduled those claims for trial in January, 2006.
"The recent death of a 21-year-old college student in Boston, after a baseball game, serves as a tragic reminder of the serious injuries that can result when so-called "less than lethal" weapons are used against crowds," said National Lawyers Guild attorney Rachel Lederman. "There was no justification for the Oakland Police to use any type of force to deal with the anti-war demonstration. It is only a matter of luck that no one died on that day. Hopefully, this settlement will prevent future tragedies and will serve as a model for other police departments throughout the nation."
Among other things, the settlement agreement includes the following:
The adoption of a new Crowd Management Policy that strictly limits the use of force, and mandates that the protection of the right to assemble and demonstrate must be a primary goal of the OPD in their planning for and management of demonstrations;
Crowd dispersal methods that create risk of injury to crowd members and bystanders are prohibited, including skip fired wooden bullets, stinger grenades, tasers, stun guns, motorcycle bumps, and dogs;
Indiscriminate use of bean bags, aerosol pepper spray and batons against crowds or passive resisters is prohibited;
When crowd members break the law, OPD will attempt to negotiate with leaders, and will give clear and audible orders to the crowd, allowing time for individuals to comply before taking enforcement action;
OPD will arrest individuals who refuse to follow valid police orders, rather than using weapons or other force to move them.
“The settlement reached is an important vindication for the plaintiffs whose civil rights were violated,” said civil rights attorney John Burris. “However, the damages part of the case remain unsolved and we are committed to seeing that our clients are reasonably compensated for the injuries and trauma they suffered on April 7, 2003.”
Willow Rosenthal, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, was shot in the back of her calf as she attempted to comply with the police order to disperse, causing severe pain and swelling. Rosenthal was later diagnosed with a serious blood clot that required multiple surgeries and a large skin graft.
“Today’s settlement will assure that what happened to me will never happen again in Oakland, ”said Willow Rosenthal, “ I think this new policy, is a first step, in protecting everyone’s First Amendment and civil rights.”
The legal team representing the plaintiffs also includes civil rights attorneys James Chanin, Bobbie Stein, Osha Neumann and Rob Remar of Leonard, Carder LLP.
http://aclunc.org/pressrel/041109-opd.html
http://aclunc.org/
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From the SF Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/11/06/BAGHR9MTMV1.DTL
OAKLAND
Agreement reached on crowd-control tactics
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Oakland police will no longer indiscriminately use wooden or rubber bullets, Taser stun guns, pepper spray and motorcycles to break up crowds, under an agreement announced Friday.
The changes followed criticism and lawsuits against police for their tactics at a large demonstration against the Iraq war outside the Port of Oakland on April 7, 2003.
The new policy settles part of a federal class-action lawsuit filed by 52 people who claimed their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly were violated as they targeted two shipping companies with contracts tied to the war in Iraq.
"What we've done is create a comprehensive policy that really provides a much more sensible, reasoned approach to managing demonstrations and crowds," said Rachel Lederman of the National Lawyers Guild in San Francisco.
The policy followed 10 months of discussions involving Oakland police, the city attorney's office and plaintiffs in the case. Oakland Police Chief Richard Word publicly circulated the basic changes in the policy in December.
Nearly 60 people, including longshore workers, said police fired nonlethal projectiles including wooden bullets, stinger grenades and bean bags without provocation and without giving them a chance to disperse. Others said they were bumped hard by traffic officers on motorcycles.
A photograph of protester Sri Louise, showing her with a golf-ball-size welt to her jaw, was widely published.
Still unresolved in the lawsuit are monetary damages that the protesters are seeking. Those claims will go to trial in January unless they are settled.
"Overall, it's a good policy, and I think it will benefit the whole community," said Michael Haddad, an Oakland attorney representing Louise and five other plaintiffs in a separate federal lawsuit.
John Burris, another plaintiffs' attorney in Oakland, agreed, saying the crowd-control measures are "a positive step toward evenhandedness."
Oakland police spokeswoman Danielle Ashford said Friday that the department's new policy was the result of an "ongoing learning process" that seeks to "ensure the safety of our officers as well as the community that we serve."
Haddad said police are "supposed to respect protesters' First Amendment activity" under the new policy. If laws are broken, police will try to negotiate with leaders and give audible orders to the crowd to disperse before making arrests.
If demonstrators still refuse to comply, police are allowed to deploy tear gas "on the edge of the crowd," form a skirmish line and push back protesters with batons but not strike them, Haddad said.
Alan Schlosser, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in San Francisco, said the policy is timely because of the re-election of President Bush.
"I would guess that there's probably going to be lots of demonstrations and lots of difference of opinions," Schlosser said.
Lederman said, "These projectile weapons are very dangerous. It was only a matter of luck that someone wasn't killed on April 7, 2003, in Oakland. That's what we're trying to prevent."
E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee (at) sfchronicle.com.
Pub date: November 6, 2004
>>>
"less than lethal" weapons kill
Also see:
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/11/12/9641487
Officer ID'ed in Red Sox Fan Death
Fri Nov 12, 9:45 PM ET U.S. National - AP
By THEO EMERY, Associated Press Writer
BOSTON - The officer who fired a pepper-spray pellet that killed a woman in a raucous crowd of Red Sox fans was aiming at another fan but missed, police said Friday. Police on Friday also identified the shooter, Officer Rochefort Milien. In an update of its investigation into the death of Victoria Snelgrove, police said Milien fired his pepper-spray pellet gun at a fan during an Oct. 21 disturbance, but missed. The shot hit Snelgrove in the eye, fatally injuring her. "Victoria Snelgrove was not targeted; she was struck when the projectile missed its intended target," the statement said. Milien is on paid injury leave from the department, a person close to the investigation told The Associated Press. Snelgrove, a 21-year-old Emerson College student, was among thousands of fans who flocked to Kenmore Square and Fenway Park to celebrate when the Red Sox beat the New York Yankees for the American League pennant. Messages left for police union officials were not immediately returned Friday night. Attempts to find a telephone number for Milien were unsuccessful. The investigation indicates at least four people were hit by the projectiles, including Snelgrove. Milien, a grenadier assigned to the police Special Operations unit, is certified to train officers on the use of the weapon. Police spokesman David Estrada said there would be no police comment beyond the statement. Deputy Superintendent Robert E. O'Toole Jr. authorized the use of the pellet guns known as the FN303, which is made by FN Herstal. He fired the weapons at specific individuals, as did Officers Samil Silta and Milien. Milien's was 25 to 30 feet away from Snelgrove when he shot her. On Friday, The Boston Globe reported O'Toole was not certified to use the FN303. O'Toole's lawyer has said he was certified and "eminently qualified" to use the weapon. The police department purchased the FN303 guns to assist with controlling protests during the Democratic National Convention last summer, but had not used them in crowd-control situations outside training before the Fenway Park shootings. Police officials since have suspended their use pending the outcome of the investigation. |
See also:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/11/1704982.php
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